Firearms became the leading cause of death for children in the U.S. in 2020, surpassing car accidents, and signaling a complete shift in society and medicine since the year 1900, when the leading factors of child-death were pneumonia and tuberculosis. 

Already in 2023, there have been 146 mass shootings in the U.S., the group says.  A total of 71 children under the age of 11 have already been killed in a mass shooting in the U.S. in 2023, with 160 injured.

On Monday, April 10, 2023 a disgruntled bank employee killed five former coworkers with a legally-purchased assault rifle in Louisville, KY. Take a look at what is going on with gun violence and gun control laws in the U.S. amid the rising  2023 death toll in the U.S. from gun violence.

The Gun Violence Archive, a research group documenting episodes of gun violence around the country, says a mass shooting is when at least four people were harmed.

On Monday, April 10, 2023 a disgruntled bank employee killed five former coworkers with a legally-purchased  assault rifle in Louisville, KY.

On March 27, 2023, a former student of a the Covenant School used a legally-purchased assault rifle to kill three nine-year-old students and three faculty members in Nashville, Tennessee.  

On February 19, 2023, suspects still at large killed one and injured 10 in a set of shootings at a nightclub.

On January 22, 2023 a 72-year old gunman shot 20 people at a dance studio in Monterey Park, California, killing 11.

The United States has a long history with gun violence.  Federal legislation on firearm regulation is slow, despite the rising death tolls from guns through the years. U.S President Biden in June of 2022 signed into law the first major gun safety legislation seen in decades, which did not ban any weapons, but provided funding for school safety and state crisis intervention plans.

Many Americans cling to their Second Amendment Constitutional right to bear arms.  Many others are pushing for gun control measures, like the banning of assault rifles in non-military settings, and background checks, to save innocent lives.

Meaningful federal legislation on gun safety is usually snuffed out by partisan politics.The Governor of the U.S. state of Tennessee said Monday he will sign an executive order to strengthen background checks in the state after the mass shooting at the Covenant school.

State legislation largely leads the way for change when it comes to firearm regulation.On Saturday, April 8, 2023 Senate lawmakers in the state of Washington voted 27-21 to ban the purchase and sale of assault weapons in the state with no Republican votes. 

House Bill 1240 will have to be passed again in the House with Senate amendments by Wednesday, April 12, and contains an emergency clause which would render the assault weapon  retail ban effective immediately in Washington state.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) said it “cannot and will not support senseless gun control measures that some in Congress have already said is just a first step that “paves the way” for additional gun control that will only infringe on the rights of the law-abiding.”

The NRA has contributed millions in funding to many U.S. Republican Senators, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. 

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence says the U.S. Senators who received the highest amounts of direct support from the NRA the are: Mitt Romney (R-Utah) $13,647,676, Richard Burr (R-North Carolina) $6,987,380 Roy Blunt (R-Missouri) $4,555,722, Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) $4,421,333Marco Rubio (R-Florida) $3,303,355 and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) $3,124,773.

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